World Class Estate Sale SOLD!

Montecito Estate — Listed for $15,750,000.

Seldom in a Realtor’s career does the opportunity arise to represent such an incredibly well built, hand crafted masterpiece as the home I recently sold on 550 Freehaven Drive. Truly an honor and a pleasure to represent the buyers of this spectacular estate in Montecito.

In September, I entered into my 28th year as a Realtor in Montecito. Having the privilege of marketing properties for my clients gives me great reward. I hope that I have the opportunity to help make your buying or selling experience an exceptional one.

New Mesa listing at 1266 San Miguel, Santa Barbara

Don’t Miss this exquisite home!

Open House this Saturday and Sunday from 1:00-4:00

Priced to sell at: $1,700,000

This impeccably remodeled home has been meticulously maintained and cared for. Original home was taken down to just a few walls and completely rebuilt around 2008. Located in the highly sought after Washington school district in Marine Terrace neighborhood and just a short distance to Shoreline Park, Leadbetter Beach, surfing, bike paths, jogging paths, restaurants, shopping the home is ideally situated to take advantage of sweeping ocean views over the neighborhood. The well thought out floorplan and high ceilings allow light to stream into all Three bedrooms and three baths. Designed to perfection with an upstairs and also a downstairs master suite, an office/bedroom and a second story front ocean view deck as well as a back side private sunning deck. The downstairs bedroom suite offers a spacious private bathroom with French doors leading to the back yard, spa and hillside view veranda.

Live near the beach and enjoy all Santa Barbara has to offer! Why look any further when you can buy this beautiful home today.

Big Bear Lake Luxury Cabin For Vacation Rental

Ever Think about traveling up to Big Bear lake to go skiing at Snow Summit or Bear Mountain. You may want to check out this great 5 star cabin for rent. Decorated in mountain decor with log bedroom sets, cathedral ceilings, snowshoe and antler light fixtures and a well appointed gourmet kitchen. Centrally located near the slopes and downtown this cabin offers three bedrooms, three bathrooms, new spa, game room, air hockey, pool table, Foosball table, pinball machine, table top arcade game offering 50 different games as well as the seasonal outdoor sports as volleyball, badminton, and horse shoes.
Check out this link on VRBO.com http://www.vrbo.com/316526
Enjoy the short trip up to the mountains instead of the 6-8 hour drive to Northern California ski resorts. Big Bear Mountain was recently sold to the same company as runs Mammoth Mountain and is rumored to accept season passes from either mountain.

4th of July in Santa Barbara

4th of July at Santa Barbara

It’s time once again for Santa Barbara to don its red, white and blue colors and celebrate Independence Day in style. This year’s festivities promise to be a good time for young and old alike, and include a pancake breakfast, Spirit of 76 parade, arts and crafts show along Cabrillo Boulevard, Fourth of July concert at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens and a spectacular fireworks display that will launch off West Beach.

Start the day with a hearty breakfast at the Montecito Firemen’s Association pancake breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, juice, coffee, and milk will be served by your local firefighters from 7:30 am to 10:30 am at the Fire District Headquarters located at 595 San Ysidro Road in Montecito. Tickets are $8 each and can be purchased at the door. Proceeds will benefit the Montecito Firefighter’s Benevolent Fund.

Next up is the Fourth of July parade which is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Micheltorena Street and will proceed down State Street to Old Town Santa Barbara, concluding at Cota Street. If you don’t wish to secure a spot to watch the parade ahead of time along the route and hate fighting crowds, the organizers offer reserved seating. (link: http://spiritof76sb.org/donations.php)

A free concert will take place at the Sunken Garden of the historic and picturesque Santa Barbara Courthouse. Admission is free and the music is set to start at 4:30pm. Bring a blanket and a picnic basket and enjoy a musical salute to American patriotism by the West Coast Symphony Orchestra.

After the concert, be sure to head down to West Beach for the fireworks display. Plan to get there early and enjoy the musical entertainment on the beach while securing the best “seat in the sand” from which to watch the fireworks. The fireworks display is scheduled to start at 9pm and West Beach will be open for free public viewing.

And don’t miss the best parade of all, the post-firework walk up State Street. If you watched the fireworks on the beach, you’ll likely be walking back up State Street afterward to get to the remote place you had to park your car. Walking under the Highway 101 underpass in a huge crowd of people is quite a memorable experience in itself.

2014 Summer Solstice Parade in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade

The Solstice Parade had it beginning in Santa Barbara in 1974 and has evolved into a parade of more than 1,000 parade participants, consisting of human powered floats, strange costumes and choreographed dance groups. Over the years it has developed into the second largest parade in Santa Barbara drawing crowds of over 80,000.
With the beautiful weather Santa Barbara has been having it seems like it’s been summer for two months already!

The official time of Summer Solstice is 4:30 Saturday morning. But more importantly, the official time of the parade in Santa Barbara is at 12:00 Saturday. The parade route starts at Cota and runs up State Street to Micheltorena. Parade enthusists can follow the parade to Alameda Park where a full weekend of festivities will follow.

The Schedule of Solstice events are as follows:Festival Main Stage – Alameda Park – Schedule for Friday June 20th, 2014

Montecito home Just SOLD!

Just sold, another great home estate site in Montecito. Located at 1920 Boundary Drive in Birnam Wood. Closing price $1,950,000

Possibly the best one acre lot in the gated Birnam Wood Country Club, complete with a vintage pool and pool house. Once the pool house for the famed Bechtel Estate the home was split off during the creation of Birnam Wood Country Club. Ideally situated off the golf course this understated home could be used as an eventual estate site or could be a great candidate for a remodel/addition.

Known to the rest of the world as the American Riviera, Santa Barbara’s south facing beaches and north facing mountains are the perfect backdrop to what is becoming one of the best film festivals in North America.

The 29th Santa Barbara International film festival opens on January 30th and runs 11 days featuring premier independent films from some 60 countries around the world. This year the lineup of celebrities include; Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Emma Thompson, Jared Leto, Daniel Brühl, Michael B. Jordan, June Squibb, Oscar Isaac, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.

To see a list of homes for sale in your favorite neighborhood or in Santa Barbara / Montecito please take a quick look at my website. If you are buying or selling, SantaBarbaraHomesAndLifestyle is one of the best custom built real estate sites for Santa Barbara or Montecito area.

Santa Barbara Mesa Home is a “Best Buy”

Mesa Homes For Sale

Don’t miss this incredible “best buy” on Santa Barbara’s most sought after Mesa neighborhood. Newly listed for sale in July, this beautifully remodeled view home offers 5 bedrooms 3 bathrooms, spacious lot, incredible pool, views of the city/mountains/Santa Barbara Mission, all underground utilities and is just a few houses away from Ellings Park. Now reduced down below market value to $1,395,000 this property is a bargain.

Open today from 1:00-4:00. Please come visit and see for yourself why this home is one of Santa Barbara’s best real estate values.

Santa Barbara Zoo Welcomes Newborn Baby Giraffe

Newborn Baby

Santa Barbara zoo welcomes baby giraffe

On April 18 at 3:52, after a mere 12.5 months of pregnancy, two hours of labor, mother giraffe Audrey welcomed her newborn son “Dane” into the world. Weighing in at 156 pounds and standing 6′ 3″, Baby Dane is expected to double his height and weight in the next year. If you would like to see the baby giraffe at the Santa Barbara Zoo he is now on display in a nursery pen within the main exhibit.

If you have the opportunity to visit the zoo in the next week you may be lucky enough to personally witness the birth of another Giraffe. Mother Betty Lou is also pregnant and overdue to give birth.

During pregnancy a female Giraffe will only gain about 100 pounds. This is natures way of protecting the pregnant mother from drawing attention or vulnerability to predators.

The Santa Barbara zoo hours of operation are 10:00 to 5:00 daily. Please check the Santa Barbara zoo’s website; sbzoo.org for special holiday hours. The zoo is located near East Beach near the bird refuge at 500 Ninos Drive.